An Early Look at the 2014 Midterm Elections

At a recent agricultural forum in Mankato, Minnesota a question about Obamacare was posed to three Democratic congresspeople.  Here's the question, and their subsequent reaction:


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That's the answer?  Really?  Are these people so out of touch on the failure of Obamacare that they have no prepared talk-off?  Or do they think they're just not going to be asked tough questions, because since Obama joined office, that just doesn't happen anymore?  Or maybe they just flat don't give a rip?

Two out of these three people need a new job.  Right bleeping now.

Google Glass Invitation

When Google Glasses first came out, I put in my application to be among the first to access them.  As one that is fascinated by technology, and one whose industry has been constantly rocked by technological changes (social media, mobile phones, tablets, all within the past five years, for example) I was intrigued enough to throw my hat in the ring.

Well, I was recently selected for Google Glasses:

  
There are only two problems:

1. Cost.  These bad-boys tip the scales at a whopping $1,500.  Yeah, I love new technology, but not that much, buddy.  There really is a reason why they call that the "bleeding edge," isn't there?
2. Creep Factor.  Google Glasses, or better said, the people wearing them, are getting a pretty tough rap.  It has gone so far that there's a name for creepy people that wear Google Glasses: "glassholes."  To combat this, Google itself has gone as far as publishing a list of dos and don'ts for Google Glass users.

Despite the problems, I really want the Glasses.  I truly believe that wearable technology to be the next big thing.  My success in changing my weight/body/health via my use of a Fitbit Flex is just one example.   And that is fairly simple technology.  One can only imagine what is going to be coming at us in just a few years' time.

Unfortunately, the problems outweigh the benefits for me, at least for now.  But I will definitely be watching this space very closely.

Pun intended.

Laughing At Pain

Last week I had a post that discussed a National Guard funeral detail that puts the "FUN in funeral."  Today I present you to the latest viral video craze.  In it, a father that is waiting to pick up his middle-school aged daughter is videotaping and laughing at kids slipping and falling on ice:



I know there is something that is hard wired in humans for us to find pain inflicted on others as funny.  If it weren't that way, the Three Stooges would never have had a career.  However, there's fake pain, and there's real pain.  There is a difference.

The guy video taping is an adult, getting off on watching kids fall.  It would seem to me that a real man would get his fat butt out of his warm car and perhaps try kicking some dirt or snow on the ice to prevent further falls.  Maybe warn kids walking by.  Possibly step up, be a man, and do something to prevent people from getting hurt.

Instead, this tool tapes and laughs.  

In less than a week, we've had two very public examples where one's need for social media publication leads to the pain of others.  Pain that could have easily been prevented from happening in the first place, if somebody just would have stepped up and done the right thing.

Just do the right thing.  That's all it takes.  Holy cow...

Maybe I'm getting old, but I found no humor in either episode.  All I'm left with is a lot less hope for all of us.

Battle of the Bulge, Part 5: Results

Last November, I chronicled my attempt at weight loss, and at the time, I reported some success.  You can see the recaps here.

Likewise, I recently wrote on using an app named 10k Runner to get me into shape for an upcoming 10k run this summer.  

It's time for an update, as some milestones have been reached.

First, my diet has been maintained.  I'm eating much differently now, and it appears to have paid dividends.  Gone is any kind of junk, and not much goes into the pie hole without a good understanding of the calories and nutritional value associated with it.  A recent trip to the grocery store reflected the change that has been made:

  
Second, my running has progressed, but not without a lot of hard work.  Two weeks ago I completed a 5k - basically running for 35 minutes at a good pace.  At 3.1 miles, it was the longest I had ever run.  Upon completion of that run, my 10k Runner app had me running the following twenty minute run, three minute walk, and twenty minute run:

I felt this would be easy.  My 35 minute run was doable, and this new challenge was basically just tacking on another 5 minutes to the run - and even had a break in the middle!  However, for some reason, I could not finish this run.  In the second stage something would always start hurting me - quad, ankle, knee, hip - and I'd need to back off and walk.  It was frustrating and depressing.  

However, I had a discussion with a buddy that is a self-proclaimed running superhero (you can read about that here) and he advised a change in my gait and foot falls.  While it took proactive thought and dedication, the first time I applied them I knocked this run out.  I even put in an extra minute at the end to ensure that it was truly dead.  I've since progressed on, and have not run into any other walls, although I know they're out there.  I'm knocking on wood right now...

The third milestone reached is on the scale:  

For the first time since my senior year in high school, my weight starts with a "1."  I seriously thought the only way I'd see this again would be if I lost a limb or two.  When I first met my wife, I weighed 225.  On the day that we married, I weighed 230.  She's never known me like this.  And for once in a long, long time, the guy that I see when I look at a picture of me or when I look in the mirror looks like me, and not some fat version of me.  

It has been a long road:

But the road has been a successful one.  

I'm pretty much where I want to be from a weight standpoint.  Given my physical frame, it will be tough to drop a lot more.  I know, from a BMI perspective, I'm still considered "overweight," but when I weighed in for football my senior year, in the best shape of my life, I was 187 - still "overweight" from BMI standards.  To get to "normal" I'd need to get to 178.  That's not going to happen, at least not in the short term.  I can't afford to change over my wardrobe again.

It's been a nice problem to have.

Now I'm at maintenance.  But while the battle may not be a full fledged war, it is still a fight, and it still is being waged.

Swanson's Bait Featured on Twin Cities TV

I'm late getting this one posted, but recently my buddy and his business were featured on a Twin Cities news story:
If you happen to be in the Hackensack, Minnesota area anytime in the future, you owe it to yourself to check out Swanson's Bait.  Even if you don't fish, I guarantee you'll  find something there that will strike your fancy.

Aaron Neville Green Bay Concert Review

Last night Green Bay was treated to one of the finest voices in all of music history, as the incomparable Aaron Neville played an intimate two-man show.  Accompanied by a brilliant keyboardist (I caught the name but was unable to write it down), it was an intimate, beautiful performance.

Unfortunately, it started out rough for this concert-goer.  First, as is common for the area, the cavernous Weidner Center was about 25% full.  Yes, I know it was raining out and the prospect for the weather getting bad was there, but come on.  And I've seen it in too many shows.  This area just does not support concerts, and how we get any acts to stop in the first place is astonishing.  

Second, as I pulled out my phone to start documenting the set list, the old bitty sitting next to my wife smacks my wife on the knee and tells her to tell me that my phone is "distracting."  In the event you happen to be reading this ma'am, despite his multiple genres, Neville's was a ROCK AND ROLL SHOW.  Couldn't you be satisfied that you got the usher to speak to the folks in front of you about their cell phone use?  And last, how the hell old are you, anyway?

There.  That feels better.   

Thus, I don't have a set list for you.  But Neville's concert was a two-hour ramble through multiple genres, from rock to doo wop to country to old R&B and even with his trademark Ave Maria thrown in for good measure.  Many of the songs were shortened versions of early rock standards, and the set list had to be over forty songs long.  It was a wonderful tour de force by a voice that is just not matched by anyone.

And that voice was in fine form for a 73 year old man (who looked 20 years younger than that, by the way).  The pitch was perfect, styling original, and trademark falsetto as high and as strong as ever. 

Highlights of the evening for me were the following:

• "Don't Know Much," made famous by his duet with Linda Rondstadt, it lacked nothing as a solo effort.  In fact, it made it all the more clear how great his voice is when it was not shared with another incomparable voice
• "Under the Boardwalk" was a range display, as Neville handled the low and super-high parts interchangeably with seeming ease.
• "Georgia on My Mind" was arguably better than the Ray Charles' original vocal.  It was truly that good.
• "The Grand Tour," the George Jones classic, was an absolute home run.  
• Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" was an emotional hat tip to Aaron's home state.
• "Ave Maria," I imagine, sounded exactly like it does when the angels sing it.  Gorgeous. 

It was a great night by a true American treasure.  Unfortunately, so many people in the area missed it.

Except for one lady.  She could have missed it and we all would have been just fine.       

'Fun in Funeral' Photo National Disgrace

Old news, I know, but I was on the road and couldn't weigh in, so am doing so now.

The attached is part of a social media post, where a member of the team brags that they "put the FUN in funeral."

It's beyond disgusting.

Thus far, two soldiers (can I even call them that?) have been suspended - that's right, not fired, not court martial-ed, but suspended - and the fate of the rest seems up in the air.  In the meantime we still have soldiers returning home in those coffin draped caskets, only those caskets don't serve as props for a social media post.

They contain the remains of a dead hero.  A hero that died for his country.  Not one that was yucking it up with their buddies from the comfort of home.

I have never served, so I know I need to temper my anger.  But if I was on the front lines and saw this, I couldn't wait to get back to Wisconsin, visit my brothers and sisters in the National Guard funeral team, and kick the living crud out of them.

This act is beyond stupid.  It's beyond ignorant.  And, it might be me, but it just feels like that's how we roll in our society today.

The Worst Thing that Can Happen

In times of great stress, my wife always seems to come through with some timely and sage advice to help me through.  And one of her standards, and arguably her best tidbit, is for me to ask myself, "What is the worst thing that can happen?"  

And usually, the answer to that question is not nearly as bad as what I got myself so whipped up into a froth about in the first place.  Indeed, usually the worst thing that can happen just isn't that horrible.  

But what is horrible is what happens when that question gets asked, and the answer comes back as mighty unclear.  At this point the fear of the unknown combined with the feeling of losing control combine to form a quite formidable foe inside my little brain.

Then what?

The only place left at that time is my faith in God.  My faith that there is a plan, there is a path, and I just need to stop worrying and follow it.  Unfortunately, God's timeline and mine are two very different things, and as much as I'd like to accelerate the process, it is important for me to just keep the faith, roll with what is happening, and know that in the end it will all be alright.

Easy to say, but very hard to do.

Will everything be alright?  Yeah, it will be.  Will I ever be able to let go and just walk the path, confident that there is something bigger determining where it goes?  

That, gentle reader, is the Grand Prize question...